Celtic looked the sure-fire favourites to land Leicester City’s Filip Benkovic on loan this January – up until a certain Saturday afternoon update.
Celtic’s interest in the Croat had been widely reported (Sky Sports). However, according to the Daily Mail, Leicester have struck a deal with OH Leuven. The Belgian outfit now look set to secure a loan deal for Benkovic.
The Mail reported that Neil Lennon was unsure about signing up the centre-back. Yet that was despite the fact John Kennedy appeared to be keen in yesterday’s press conference.
Speaking via Celtic TV, Kennedy said: “Filip is one who we are very well aware of and have spoken about. We know what he is capable of, and he’s a guy who has been here and knows what it’s about. So he is certainly on a shortlist of options to strengthen the centre-back position.”
Just hours later Benkovic appeared to be departing for Leuven instead.
Celtic appeared keen on Benkovic; update appears to have killed the story
This looked like a sure-fire move for Celtic. Benkovic fits the bill as a ball-playing centre-back and knows what it takes to win trebles with the club. The 10-in-a-row fight wouldn’t have scared him.
Many have expressed concern about his injury problems. But he’s actually been fit and available to play more or less all season for Cardiff during his loan spell. He’s been on their bench on 11 occasions this season (Transfermarkt). When he hasn’t been in their squad at all, there’s no indication that it’s been down to injury.
However, there was a great concern over match-sharpness. We’ve seen how big a deal that can be this season with the likes of Albian Ajeti and Leigh Griffiths struggling to get up to full speed.
Benkovic hasn’t played two consecutive 90-minute matches since July. That would’ve been a huge issue for Lennon to battle with. The last thing Celtic fans wanted to hear regarding any new defender was that he would take a while to get up to speed.
Still, the timing of yesterday’s update didn’t look great. In fact, Celtic were made to look a touch foolish given we had expressed our interest just several hours earlier.
No deal with Leuven has as of yet been completed. So there could even be room for wiggle room there if we’re still interested. But it’s likely going to be the case that the Hoops now look elsewhere.
Here’s what some fans are saying about the whole Benkovic saga after yesterday’s update:
https://twitter.com/Liam67M/status/1347977200847478785
https://twitter.com/kingbhoy1888/status/1347968021772595200
https://twitter.com/HCorteo/status/1347962612361912320
In other news, this Celtic youngster helped save the day in a Scottish Cup tie.
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